'An assembly of old men and New Men: the Senate in late Pahlavi Iran'

Although later than the national questions of the Balkans of the 19th century and overshadowed by the Armenian struggle for independence, Kurdish national movements emerged in the late19th and early 20th centuries. It has often been argued geography and wider geo-strategic considerations have prevented „Kurdistan“ to emerge as a nation state. Others, however, argue that now, with the evident brake down of order in the region, Kurdistan could have its chance. In any case, as it has been throughout history, Kurdistan will be within and between the two big non Arab powers of the Middle East, Turkey and Iran.

Dr Bianca Devos

Dr Bianca Devos is a Lecturer in Iranian Studies at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the at Philipps-University of Marburg. She read Islamic Studies, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic as well as Management at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg and at the University of Tehran.In 2011 she took a doctorate in Iranian Studies from the Philipps-University of Marburg. Her research focuses on the Modern and Contemporary History of Iran. Recent publications by Dr Devos in this field include Culture and Cultural Politics Under Reza Shah. The Pahlavi State, New Bourgeoisie and the Creation of a Modern Society in Iran, edited by Bianca Devos und Christoph Werner (London: Routledge, 2014) and 'Iran's Cultural Policy under the Pahlavis, 1925-1979', in: Orient 55/2 (2014), pp. 26-30.